Combination display panel and supporting easel



April 1, 1958 D. GOLDSTEIN COMBINATION DISPLAY PANEL AND SUPPORTING EASEL Filed June 28, 1956 SiGN 1N VENTOR DA N/E L GOL DSTE/N ATTORNEYS United States Patent COMBINATION DISPLAY PANEL AND SUPPORTING EASEL Daniel Goidstein,New York, N. Y., assignor to Schenley Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 28, 1956, Serial No. 594,475 3 Claims. (Cl. 40-1241) This invention relates to the display or advertising art and more particularly to a combination display panel and supporting easel in which the easel initially forms an integral part of the display panel and may be utilized in this condition as a part of the display, or may be separated from the display panel and utilized as a supporting easel therefor.

Heretofore, in this art, it has been common to supply display panels with supporting easels in the form of foldable members attached to the back thereof by a suitable adhesive or some other manner, or to supply an entirely separate supporting easel which may be attached to the panel for supporting the same in display position. In these prior art devices, the provision of easels, either of the type which are secured to the back of the display panel or of the type which are supplied separate therefrom, very materially add to the cost of such devices and in the event the easel is notused, the cost thereof represents a complete loss.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a combination display panel and supporting easel in which the easel structure initially is an integral part of the panel and may be utilized in connection therewith for display purposes, or separated therefrom to provide a supporting easel for the panel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a combination display panel and supporting easel which may be conveniently and economically manufactured by conventional stamping and printing operations and in which the provision of the easel represents no material increase in cost.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a combination display panel and supporting easel which may be conveniently manufactured from readily available material, such as corrugated paper board and in which a cutting line is provided for facilitating separation of the easel portion from the body portion of the display panel and in which a fold line and L-shaped cuts are provided in the easel portion to facilitate folding and attaching the same to the body portion of the display panel to provide a supporting easel.

Another object of the invention is the combination display panel and supporting advertising indicia may be provided on the easel portion which is integral therewith panel utilized as a display, separated therefrom and body portion of the panel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a combination display panel and supporting easel in which the easel structure initially is integral with the display panel and in which cuts are provided whereby upon separation of the easel structure from the display panel, such panel may be inserted in the cuts to frictionally attach the same to the easel and provide a unitary self-supporting structure.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will provision of a easel in which panel and the and the entire or if desired, the easel portion utilized as a support for the be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a combination display panel and supporting easel constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 a plan view similar to Fig. l, but showing the easel structure separated from the body portion of the panel;

Fig. 3 a view in perspective showing the body portion of the panel supported from the easel previously separated from the panel; and V Fig. 4 a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

With continued reference to the drawing there is shown a combination display panel and supporting easel constructed in accordance with this invention and which may well comprise a generally rectangular panel 19 of corrugated paper board or any other suitable material and provided on the panel 10 adjacent one edge thereof is a cutting line 11 which serves to divide the panel 10 into a relatively large body portion 12 and a relatively narrow elongated strip 13 which serves to provide an easel structure, in a manner to be presently described. Suitable indicia as represented by the bottle 14, glass 15 and a sign or other printed matter, may be applied to the body portion 12 of the panel 10 and also suitable indicia represented by the circles 16 may be applied to the strip 13 and, of course, such indicia 16 will be in harmony with the indicia on the body portion 12 of the panel 10.

If desired, the entire panel 10, including the strip 13 may be utilized as a display and supported in any desired manner, in which case, the strip 13 is an integral part of the display and in complete harmony therewith.

However, in many instances, it is desired to support a display panel on an easel, particularly where other supporting means is not available, or where a particular type of display is required and for this purpose there has been provided an easel structure which comprises a strip 13 defined by the cutting line 11 and there may also be provided substantially midway of the length of the strip 13, a transverse fold line 17. The fold line 17 is merely a convenience in foldingthe strip 13 after separation from the body portion 12 and is not an absolute necessity. L-shaped cuts 18 and 19 are provided in the strip 13 on each side of the fold line 17 and equidistant therefrom and one leg 20 and 21 of each of these cuts 18 and 19 terminates at the cutting line 11 on the panel 10 and the other leg 22 and 23 of each cut 18 and 19 extends away from the fold line 17, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

When it is desired to utilize the easel structure of this invention, it is only necessary to make a cut along the cutting line 11 which serves to separate the strip 13 from the body portion 12 of the panel 10 and thereafter, the strip 13 is bent to the formation shown in Figs. 3 and 4 about the fold line 17. The lower edge of the body portion 12 of the panel 10 is then inserted in the legs 20 and 21 of the cuts 18 and 19 and, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, by reason of the particular configuration of the cuts 18 and 19, there is provided tabs 24 and 25 which by reason of the resiliency of the material, frictionally engage the rear surface of the body portion 12 of the panel 10 to frictionally attach the same to the strip 13 which forms the supporting easel. There is thus provided a supporting easel which, by reason of the indicia thereon, is decorative in nature and further one which is firmly united to the body portion 12 of the panel 10 and provides a firm support therefor, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

While the L-shaped cuts 18 and 19 are preferable, in that, these serve to provide the frictionally engaging tabs 24 and 25, nevertheless, if desired, other configurations of cuts may be employed and in fact, simply a single cut. such as represented by the lines 20 and 21, might be em.-

While the line 11 has been described as a cutting line it is' to be understood, that this may simply provide an i indication as to where the panel 10 is to be cut to provide the strip 13 or may comprise a perforated, scored or die cut line to'facili'tate removal of the strip 13 without requiring the use ofa knifeor other cutting instrument.

If it is desired to utilize the entire panel 14) as a display, there may be provided in the body portion 12 one or more apertures 26, by'meansof which the panel may be suspended from a cord or wire. Also if desired, the panel 10-may be attached to-a supporting member by a suitable adhesive applied-toth'e'rear surface.

It will be seen that by the above described invention, there has been provided an extremely simple, yet highiy efficient combination display panel and supporting easel and'in'which the easel structure is integral with the display panel and forms a part thereof to display, but which may be separated therefrom without in any way detracting from the appearance of the display, in order to provide a supporting easel. In this way, there is no materialincrease in cost due to supplying the easel structure, which would bethe'case if such structure were merely secured to thc back of the display panel, or were supplied as a separate unit.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A combination display panel and supporting easel comprising a rectangular panel, a cutting line on said panel adjacent one edge dividing said panel into a large body portion and a narrow elongated strip, indi'cia on said body portion and said strip, a transverse fold line on said strip intermediate the length thereof and an L-shaped cut on opposite sides of said fold line equidistant from, one leg of each cut terminating at said cutting line provide an overall there-- and the other leg of each cut extending away from said fold line' whereby upon cutting said panel along said cutting line to separate said strip therefrom, said strip may be bent about said fold line and an edge of said body portion inserted in said one leg of each cut and with the tabs provided by the other leg of each cut engaging the rear surface of said body portion to provide a display panel and supporting easel frictionally attached thereto.

2. A combination display panel and supporting easel comprising a rectangular panel, a cutting line on said panel adjacent one edge dividing said panel into a large body portion and a narrow elongated strip, indicia on said body portion and said strip, a transverse fold line on saidstrip and an L-shaped cut on opposite sides of said fold line, one. leg of each. cut terminating at said cutting line and the other leg of each cut extending away from said fold line whereby upon cutting said panel along said cutting line to separate said. strip. therefrom, said strip may be bent about said fold line: and an edge of said body portion inserted in said one leg of each cut and with. the tabs provided. by the other leg of each. cut engaging the rear surface of said body portionto provide a display panel and supporting easel frictionally. attached thereto.

3. A combination display panel and supporting easel comprising a rectangular panel, a cutting line on said 'panel adjacent one edge dividing said panel into a large body portion and a narrow elongated strip, indicia on saidbody portion and said strip, a pair of L-shaped cuts in said strip with one leg of each cut terminating at each cutting. line and the other leg of each cut extending toward the ends of said strip whereby upon cutting said panel along.

said cutting line to separate said strip therefrom, said strip may be bent intermediate the length thereof and an. edge of said body portion inserted in said one leg, of each cut and with the tabs provided by the other leg of each cut engaging the rear surface of said body portion to provide a display panel and supportingeaselfrictionally attached thereto References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,333 Agar Jan. 22', 1924 1,485,786 Kraft Mar. 4, 1924 1,862,566 Everson June 14,1932 2,506,461 Leach May 2, 1950" 

